CBI, IB come together to take on BJP's attack in Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case

CBI Director Ranjit Sinha and his IB counterpart S. Asif Ibrahim have agreed on the informal rules of engagement to ensure that sanctity of the two organisations is not impacted in the face of BJP's attack in the case.

As the probe into the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case lands the CBI on the doorstep of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the chiefs of both agencies have rallied around each other to ensure that there is no bad blood between them in the face of the opposition heat in the case.

The two IPS officers - CBI Director Ranjit Sinha and his IB counterpart S. Asif Ibrahim -have "come together" to take on the BJP attack, realising that hurling allegations at each other could damage the morale of their officers, sources said.

The BJP has alleged that the "Modi-phobia" of the UPA government was driving the CBI probe in the case.

Sinha and Ibrahim have also agreed on the informal rules of engagement to ensure that sanctity of the two organisations is not impacted. "It is a vicious campaign to drive a wedge between the two professional agencies of the government. We have decided that we will cooperate with each other on the probe," a source told Mail Today.

The CBI had on June 11 sent summons to IB Special Director Rajendra Kumar in connection with the Ishrat Jahan case, triggering resentment among the Bureau officials. Sources now say on the IB's request, the date for the interrogation of Kumar has been extended. The agency has also been assured that its officials will be dealt in a professional manner and will not be hounded.

"We are closely cooperating with each other; the chiefs are in touch. We respect IB as a professional organisation," a senior official said. Sinha and Ibrahim also spoke to each other thrice on Wednesday regarding the matter, according to sources.

In another development, the CBI has intensified its efforts to declare Gujarat's Additional Director General of Police P.P. Pandey an absconder after warrants have been issued by a special CBI court against him.

The Supreme Court earlier rejected the plea of Pandey for quashing of FIR and protection against non-bailable arrest warrant. The IPS officer was joint commissioner of police in Ahmedabad in 2004 when Ishrat was killed in a fake encounter allegedly by crime branch officials.